So you thought you were the only one feeling blue? In Stockholm, the Haymarketscrapers towers reflect the mood of citizens by changing color. Purple signifies deep depression, while a bright red means citizens are happy, happy, happy!
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How do the towers know citizens’ emotional state of mind? Simple. People can rate their mood for the day by logging onto emotionalcities.com where they truthfully answer the question “How are your feeling today?” by clicking on one of a scale of 7 colors, signifying moods. Purple at the far left of the scale, is ranked as close to depressed, while red is at the other extreme. Stinky breakup? Feel free to jab hard on the purple clickable button.
If you choose to, you can even keep an entirely confidential and private online journal, jotting down the reason for your foul mood.
What’s even more fun is that the colors on five of the city’s tallest scrapers are visible to incoming air travelers (although it would probably be a little late to turn around if the city was bathed in funereal purple). I can almost hear the captain now — “The temperature is 21 degrees C, the weather is sunny and the mood of the city is a warm and friendly orange.”
The lighting project is part of an art experiment called Emotional Cities that aims to study the emotional state of an entire society, and how it affects individual moods. More cities are signing up for the lighting project, including some in South Korea.
Get a live shot of the project via their webcam here.